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The Steering
Committee of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture-managed Cassava
Weed Management Project (IITA-CWMP) has approved the establishment of 58
on-farm trials across Nigeria for the 2016 season.
The plan is to reach,
through the on-farm trials, at least 11 000 farmers with a basket of weed
control options, and offer farmers the opportunity to by themselves choose weed
control methods that best suit their locality and address their needs.
This decision was
part of the resolutions and recommendations from the 2016 Steering Committee
meeting held in IITA, Ibadan, 28-29 April 2016.
Prof John Ayoade, a
Deputy Vice Chancellor from the University of Agriculture Makurdi, who chaired
the meeting on behalf of the Executive Director of the National Root Crops
Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Dr
Julius Okonkwo, said the on-farm trials would validate the two-year results
obtained from research stations.
The on-farm trials
will involve farmers from Benue, Abia, Oyo and Ogun states on different aspects
of weed control including the use of motorized mechanical weeders, best-bet agronomic
practices including correct spacing, improved variety, cassava/maize intercrop,
use of fertilizers and tillage practices, and the use of environmentally
friendly herbicides. Each on-farm trial is about one and half acres and will be
researcher-managed.
Project Leader,
IITA-CWMP, Dr Alfred Dixon said the on-farm trials would provide opportunity
for both researchers and farmers to work together on the path of discovery in a
participatory manner.
“Our research
approach is inclusive and farmers are important stakeholders in this equation,”
he said.
Though Nigeria is a
global leader in cassava production, the average yield on farmers’ fields is
about 14 tons per hectare, representing half of those obtained on research
stations. One of the limiting factors to increased productivity is poor weed
control, and the IITA-CWMP is working with partners within and outside Nigeria
to provide solutions to weed damage to crops.
The Steering Committee, which plays an oversight role on the
project, is headed by the Executive Director of NRCRI, Dr Julius Okonkwo and
other 11 members drawn from the National Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigeria Cassava Growers Association
(NCGA), CropLife, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
(FMARD), National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), University of
Agriculture Makurdi (UAM), Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB),
a private consulting firm, IITA, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
For more information,
contact: Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org, Communication & Knowledge Exchange
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